I'm a husband, father, author, cyclist, sailor, travel addict, and former Silicon Valley software engineer. I've written 3 books and actively review books on this blog.
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Friday, August 25, 2017

It was nice and sunny, but was forecast to be the last sunny day for a while. Due to a snafu on my part, I'd failed to book 4 days at hour hotel, and so had to switch hotels within the same town that day. Since we had to pack everything into the car anyway, we might as well drive somewhere far. Patterdale wasn't on our itinerary otherwise, but I had good memories of sailing on Ullswater from my coast to coast walk.

I'd never driven to Patterdale before, and to my surprise, it was a substantial pass. In fact, there's an even steeper approach than the main road called "The Struggle", which features more than 20% grades in spots. If I ever come back with a single bike this would be a worthy challenge, though of course, with a tandem and a touring load I wouldn't even consider it.

Once at Ullswater, the weather got clouded over, but I found the boat rental place and asked for a sailboat. We got everybody dressed up, and watched the manager rig up an old-style sloop. The sloop looked great but sailed horribly, never being able to tack to within 60 degrees of the wind. Downwind, it was fine, but never really fast either. No wonder they were so relaxed about sailing certifications!

When we were done, we ate at the local coffee shop and then did a short hike up and around the area. That soft light with beams of sunshine coming through the clouds was classic English landscape scenery and gorgeous. I wish we'd had more time to hike on this trip, which would be a continuing theme the whole time.

That evening, we checked into the Lancet House and spent more time at the playground before ordering take out Indian food. The next day was forecasted for rain, so I thought it'd be a good time to take the kids to the World of Beatrix Potter.